History
The school opened with grades 7-8 in August 1993. Its high school division opened in 1999. With its first graduating class in 2002, its high school division was the newest high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock. [1] The final building, on 30 acres (12 ha) of land, was developed from a fundraising program that began in 1999, [2] and resulted in a campus completed in 2000. The party that arranged to have the building established was the Pine Bluff Educational Endowment (PBEE), which leased its building to St. Joseph; PBEE had requested that its property host a Catholic school. [3]
Originally the St. Joseph Church subsidized and managed the school. By May 2012 the church was less able to give subsidies, so the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock Office of Catholic Schools took over management duties. [4] The school was going to close in 2012 but Anthony B. Taylor, the bishop of the diocese, gave a clemency of one year. [5] Taylor did so after the community raised $38,505 as part of the "Save St. Joseph School" campaign. Alexandra Pritchett became the principal in 2012. [3]
The school announced it was closing in March 2013 due to lack of enrollment; only 42 students had pre-registered for the 2013-2014 school year. The school had calculated what would have been necessary to save it as part of a feasibility study conducted in February 2013. [4] 60 students would have been necessary to keep the school open, [5] and if that was the case the school would have operated at a deficit of $144,000 after the subsequent school year. [3] 100 students would have been necessary for complete financial viability. [5] The school's finances were to have been drained by June 30, 2013 as it had $160,000 in reserve and the $38,000 originating from "Save St. Joseph School". [4] The school held its final graduation on May 10, 2013 with five students graduating. [5] The following school year Ridgway Christian School began leasing the former St. Joseph building for its secondary students. [6] John Worthen of the Pine Bluff Commercial wrote that area Catholic schools were losing students as many who wanted private education came to Ridgway Christian instead. [7] The school was the last Catholic school remaining in the county. [8]
Altheimer is a city in Plum Bayou Township, Jefferson County, Arkansas. It is situated on the Union Pacific Railway, 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Pine Bluff. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 984, down from 1,192 at the 2000 census. As of 2018 the estimated population was 829.
Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area. The population of the city was 49,083 in the 2010 Census with 2019 estimates showing a decline to 41,474.
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-most populous city in the state. North Little Rock, along with Little Rock and Conway, anchors the six-county Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further included in the Little Rock-North Little Rock Combined Statistical Area with 902,443 residents.
The Diocese of Little Rock is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church composed of the entire U.S. state of Arkansas. It was established on November 28, 1843. The seat of the diocese is the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. The Diocese of Little Rock is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
Pine Bluff School District No. 3 (PBSD) is a school district headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The district has 10 schools with over 3,800 students and 500 employees.
St. Joseph Academy is a traditional Roman Catholic K-12 school located in San Marcos, CA. Its stated mission is "to transform human society through the most effective means possible, namely through training the youth in faith, reason, and virtue". The school is operated independent of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego and is the only school located within the Diocese that offers a complete K-12 education. St. Joseph Academy has been named by the Catholic High School Honor Roll as one of the top 50 Catholic High Schools in the United States for three consecutive years and carries a 99% college matriculation rate. The school is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accredited school and formally approved by the Diocese of San Diego.
St. Joseph School is a private, Roman Catholic K-12 school in Conway, Arkansas, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock. It is often referred to as Conway St. Joseph to differentiate itself from Pine Bluff St. Joseph High School.
Saint Albert Catholic Schools is a private, Roman Catholic K-12 school in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States. Saint Albert's mascot is a falcon for the boys, while the girls are known as the saintes. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines.
Lebanon Catholic School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States. It was located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg. It closed in 2020.
Dollarway School District No. 2 (DSD) was a school district headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. With over 1,600 students and employing more than 300 educators and staff, the district had three active school campuses at the end of its life.
Anthony Basil Taylor is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas since 2008. He was a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma from 1980 to 2008, interrupted by studies in New York at Fordham University. Much of his career has focused on service to the Hispanic community.
John Baptist Morris was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas from 1907 until his death.
Cahokia Unit School District 187 is a school district based in Cahokia Heights, Illinois in Greater St. Louis/Metro East.
Dollarway High School is a comprehensive public high school in northwest Pine Bluff, Arkansas that serves grades 9 through 12. It is one of three public high schools in Pine Bluff and is a part of the Pine Bluff School District effective July 1, 2021. Prior to that point it was the only high school managed by the Dollarway School District. Within the state, the school is often referred to as Pine Bluff Dollarway.
Ridgway Christian School (RCS) was a private K–12 Christian school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. At one time it was the only private school in operation in all of Jefferson County. Pine Bluff First Assembly of God is the school's parent church. The 30-acre (12 ha) middle and high school campus was owned by the Pine Bluff Educational Endowment (PBEE); This campus was known as Ridgway Christian High School (RCHS).
St. Peter's Catholic School (StPCS) was a Black Catholic school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in operation from 1889 through 1975 and 1985 through 2012.
Friendship Public Charter School, Inc. is a network of charter schools in Arkansas. Friendship Education Foundation has an office in Little Rock, Arkansas and another office in Washington, DC.
